Petrichor
by pinkflyingtiger11
Summary: It was raining. As so often it did in Finchley, the drearier side of London in perhaps the dreariest part of England if one didn't know any better. Caspian/Edmund (Casmund) Fluff. More positive than it sounds :) Modern AU
1. Chapter 1

Petrichor. _noun. _The smell of earth after rain.

It was raining. As so often it did in Finchley, the drearier side of London in perhaps the dreariest part of England if one didn't know any better. Caspian tucked his umbrella under his arm to fumble with his raincoat, pulling up the hood and zipping it up tight.  
He'd been walking home from visiting his mother in the hospital. The doctor said she would be fine in a week or so and until then Caspian was to stay with his uncle who apparently offered to not only house him but to assist him with his studies. Caspian very much doubted this fact as his uncle was most unpleasant in his opinion, constantly talking about what a disappointment Caspian's father had been before he had died in the army.  
His thoughts strayed to the scent radiating from the ground, the fresh, indescribable scent that filled his nostrils. He wasn't quite sure what to call it or what it was but only the rain here in England smelt quite like this.  
It was then that he noticed another figure, standing sniffing in the middle of the path. The boy, for it was quite obviously a boy, was busy wrapping his arms around his skinny figure clothed only in a T-shirt that hugged him tightly as it dripped water. He appeared to have been caught out in the downpour, completely unprepared for it despite the frequent weather warnings and the heavy grey clouds.  
"Are you alright?" Caspian asked because his father had always told him to look out for people no matter who they were.  
"Yes thanks." The boy smiled at him. His eyes were dark and his face pale, smattered with freckles. "My brother was supposed to meet me here." He clarified.  
"Ah. Forget to show up did he?" Caspian laughed and recalled the amount of times his uncle had forgotten to turn up outside school or the hospital. It was quite ridiculous so Caspian had just taken to walking. He'd learn to drive soon enough though and then he could go wherever he liked and perhaps even take his mother with him.  
"As usual." Edmund nodded. "He's probably busy with work." He shivered slightly.  
Caspian observed this shiver in great detail, noticing how the boy's skin was now covered in goose bumps obviously due to the litres of cold water dripping down him.  
"Here." Caspian said, walking closer to the boy so he could hold the umbrella over the pair of them. "I'll wait with you, so you can stay a bit drier."  
"Thanks." The boy smiled at him again and Caspian decided that it was quite possibly one of the most adorable smiles he had ever seen. "I'm Edmund but most people call me Ed." He introduced.  
"I'm Caspian, just Caspian though… Not Cas. It doesn't seem to suit me." Caspian informed him, rambling slightly as Edmund caught his glance.  
"Nice to meet you _Cas_." Edmund smiled. "What brings you out in the rain today?"  
Caspian debated his answer. He could sugar coat it, keep the smile on Edmunds face and say he was going for a walk… But something told him that it wouldn't be a good idea to lie to Edmund. "I went to visit my mum in the hospital."  
"Ah." Edmund sighed. "Sorry."  
Caspian panicked, he'd upset him already! "Oh don't worry, she's coming home next week I'm sure!" Caspian assured him.  
"Glad to hear it." Edmund smiled again. It wasn't as full of life; more sort of sympathetic as if he knew as well as Caspian did that that was just an excuse doctors like to make to keep you hoping. "Send her my best." He added and Caspian positively beamed to him.  
"I will!" He grinned. There was a paused where rain pattered gently on the black fabric above them. It didn't feel awkward, just one of those comfortable silences where you could sit with someone for hours without talking and just enjoy the company. It was that kind of silence that Caspian very much enjoyed, with just the droplets landing around them, the drips off leaves.  
But Caspian didn't have forever. Very soon Edmund would be getting into his brother's car and forgetting all about him. "And what about you then?" Caspian asked quickly. "What are you doing here without a coat?"  
Edmund looked down. "I went for a walk." He answered. And Caspian knew immediately there was more to it. He looked carefully at Edmund but decided not to push him.  
It turned out he didn't need to.  
Edmund took a breath. "Things were getting… Messy at home… I rang my brother to tell him to meet me here. I realised I'd left my coat at home but I-"  
"You didn't want to go back in." Caspian nodded. Edmund looked at him with a look of intrigue.  
"Right." He nodded.  
There was another comfortable silence where Caspian found himself glancing over at Edmund perhaps more often than he should have, quickly turning away when he detected that maybe the other boy seemed to notice.  
"So… How old are you Caspian?" Edmund asked, wincing slightly at the bluntness of his question.  
Caspian smirked. "Nineteen and yes I'm taking a gap year. You?"  
"Seventeen." Edmund informed him, suddenly finding the floor very interesting.  
"Cool!" Caspian smiled. He didn't really mind. A lot of his friends were younger than him so he was used to it.  
"And do you…. No never mind." Edmund shook his head. Turning to face away.  
Caspian frowned. "Do I what?"  
"I was just… Y'know wondering… If you maybe… It's stupid but-"  
"What is it?" Caspian laughed.  
Edmund rolled his eyes, "It doesn't matter." He insisted.  
All of a sudden the sound of a heavy motor could be heard as a cheap looking car that Caspian could hardly identify veered around the corner spraying both Caspian and Edmund with rain water. It wheezed to a halt some yards away and the man inside waved towards them before flicking his dirty blonde hair.  
"And that's my ride." Edmund smiled, he looked up at Caspian gratefully. "Thanks for… Y'know, keeping me dry!"  
But before Caspian could even get out a 'you're welcome' the brunette had already started jogging towards the vehicle.  
Caspian was a little stuck, he thought about standing and waving but figured that would be a bit creepy… He was saved of this however when almost immediately after the car door had slammed shut, it was sent flying open again.

"Iwaswonderingifyoudrankcoffee?" Edmund admitted, running back under the umbrella.  
Caspian couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips, he rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yeah I do." He smiled.  
"Well good because I was thinking we should go and get one some time." Edmund replied, albeit a little too casually. "Y'know… Just to say thanks for lending me your umbrella. And company." He paused, judging Caspian's reaction. "I'll pay!" He added.  
Caspian smiled. "Okay." He reached into his pocket to find the little notepad he had to take notes from the doctors. He handed the umbrella to Edmund and scrawled down some digits onto a sheet of, now slightly wet, paper. The ink was running slightly from the rain but the writing still readable. "My number." Caspian presented the sheet to Edmund. "So you can let me know the details."

Edmund smiled, the big wide smile, the one Caspian had first seen. "See you." Edmund nodded his head and ran back to the car in which Caspian could see the blonde man rolling his eyes and tapping his watch in the mirror.

Caspian watched, standing a little in disbelief, as the car performed a three point turn and skidded past him once more.

He decided that rain was most definitely his favourite weather.


	2. Chapter 2

It was one of those moments in the Pevensie household when everything was rather unnaturally quiet. Edmund was sitting on his bed with his back against the headboard, his younger sister Lucy sitting in front of him leaning on his chest. They were both reading, Edmund an old, battered version of 'The Importance of Being Earnest' for school and Lucy a copy of 'Pride and Prejudice' borrowed from their older sister Susan, albeit without her permission.  
They liked to sit like this, in companionable silence in the rarer times of day when Peter was out at work and their mother was either asleep or sitting in the garden. It was better like this. Edmund often wished that he was older so that Peter could get a move on and leave home already instead of having to take care of them. Although he couldn't pretend everything would be alright, at least then their mother wouldn't cry as much.  
Peter was annoying, that much was for sure, but Edmund couldn't bring himself to hate him. Not anymore. He knew that they wouldn't be in this situation if not for himself.

It was almost a year ago now. Their father had just returned from Iraq on leave and, as most people would, he had decided to take their mother out for dinner to celebrate. And Edmund took the opportunity to go out with _her _again, which his siblings had all advised against doing, especially Lucy who always seemed to care for his welfare the most. But of course he'd gone and ignored them and ended up in A&amp;E. As part of standard procedure, their parents had been called immediately and rushed from the restaurant to the hospital as quickly as possible.  
But it was raining.  
Unrelenting torrents of water, heavier than they had seen for a long while, the whole week having had reports of flash-floods in the area. The car slipped and smashed into a tree. And it was somewhat inevitable.  
The next thing they knew Peter was pushing their mother in a wheelchair with Susan, Lucy and a bandaged up Edmund over to the grave of Robert Pevensie.

Still, it didn't do well to dwell on the past and after two months of silence and locked rooms, things started to try and ease back to normal. Well, as normal as they could have been in a situation like that. Peter moved back in after university and got a job. In a shop. Which, for someone like Peter, was possibly the worst place to work. Day after day the same thing working with the twats he thought he'd escaped when he got into Cambridge. _Cambridge _for God's sake! He had a first class degree in Medieval History and he was all set to begin working under famed historian Professor Diggory Kirke. But no. That would've been too good to be true. Edmund and Lucy were still at school, their Mum suffering from depression, PTSD and leg paralysis and Susan was away studying abroad in America. Peter had to take care of his family. And he loathed it.  
He argued and grumbled and snapped his way through each day, kicking the furniture, slamming the doors. He didn't want to be there, and he'd be damned if everyone didn't know it.  
Edmund tried not to take it personally, but of course that was difficult when most of Peter's rage was targeted at him. It made mum worse, it made Lucy cry and it made Susan all the more determined to stay away.

Edmund had begun a routine now, whenever Peter got out of hand Lucy would go round to a friend's house and Edmund would run to the park and call Peter so that he would have to leave mum and come and pick him up. Edmund was contemplating this while flicking through the pages of his book. He was honestly trying to pay attention, to make the words sink in, but he just couldn't. He kept thinking of the little piece of paper in his coat pocket, just metres away. He hadn't had a good friend since the events of the previous year and now he had the perfect opportunity to make one. Lucy didn't know yet, but Edmund had a feeling that his luck might just be starting to change a little.  
"You alright Ed?" Lucy asked, looking up from her book at the underside of Edmund's chin. "You're turning the pages awfully fast."  
"I'm fine." Edmund smiled at her. "Just thinking."  
"Well you might want to think a little more quietly, it's very distracting." She laughed softly.  
Edmund kissed her forehead. "Sorry Miss Mind-reader." He lowered his voice a little, remembering his mother asleep in the other room.  
Lucy closed her book and put it on the bed beside her. "I'm thinking of making Toad in the Hole for dinner, what d'you think?"  
"Sounds good." He nodded. "But you don't have to, if you've got stuff to do, I can always just order something in."  
Lucy rolled her eyes. "We can't have take-away every night Ed, we have a perfectly good oven and I'm determined to make use of it. Especially since Peter won't, which I will admit is probably for the best."  
They both laughed a bit, thinking of the last time Peter attempted to cook. He had set the pasta on fire and made the sauce with far too much pepper and then had stormed out leaving a broken plate on the floor. Edmund didn't even know how it was possible to set pasta on fire.  
"Have you got homework to do?" Edmund asked chucking his own book on the floor.  
"Only revision." Lucy shrugged. "And I did some of that at lunchtime."  
"I'll let you off then. Shove off and I'll help you clean the kitchen." He pushed her gently off his lap.

Lucy jumped up off the bed and leant on the door. "Come on then!".  
"Hold on," Edmund fake groaned and stood slowly up. "It's my old bones, you go on ahead."  
Lucy laughed quietly, covering her mouth so as not to wake up their mother. "Alright then grandpa."  
Edmund waited until he could hear the sounds of her footsteps on the stairs before rushing over to his coat to grab the piece of paper in it. He didn't really know what to do with it other than stare at the slightly faded blue digits scrawled on. He grabbed his phone from the pocket of his jeans and quickly began to add the number to his contacts.  
He began walking down the stairs slowly, typing a text as he went. '_Do you know the little café called Ranmandu's Place, just up the road from Sainsbury's?'  
_"Come on then slow coach!" Lucy hissed, sticking her head around the kitchen door.  
"Alright, alright!" Edmund rolled his eyes and quickly pressed send before tucking his phone away.

Lucy tossed a cloth over at him and set to work sweeping the floor. Edmund ran the cloth under the hot tap and started to scrub down the surface; it had been a while since they'd used the kitchen.  
Cleaning wasn't exactly Edmund's strong suit, but he put the effort in to do right by his family. Mum physically couldn't do it anymore, Peter was hopeless at it so that only left him and Lucy. Sometimes he thought Peter could just go and they'd probably be better off, although he knew they needed his wages or else they'd be living on scraps.  
He was broken from his reverie however when his phone pinged decidedly loudly. It was a surprise to say the least. He hadn't expected a reply, especially not one that quickly.  
"Is that Peter? I thought he wouldn't have been done at work for at least another hour or two." Lucy asked, looking up curiously.  
Edmund shook his head. Unlocking his phone to glance at the reply. _'As it happens I do, I'm guessing this is Edmund as I don't make a habit of giving my number out to everyone I meet ;) ~ Caspian'_  
"Susan then? Is she coming home!?" Lucy gasped a little.  
"It's not Susan." Edmund nearly laughed. Like it would ever be. Although he couldn't blame her, he had no friends anymore, what else was she to think.  
Lucy frowned, putting her cloth on the surface and tried to look over Edmund's shoulder.  
"Hey, privacy!" Edmund swatted her away playfully.  
Lucy shook her head in disbelief. "Have you got a secret girlfriend Ed?"  
"No!" Edmund scoffed. As if. Never again he'd vowed.  
He tapped in a reply. _'Sorry, forgot. I prefer Ed though :P'  
_"His name's Caspian. He's a friend."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I AM SORRY THIS IS SO DAMN WISHY-WASHY and completely pointless. And short. And a bit pants. I honestly don't know where this comes from I am aromantic and asexual so I clearly just read too much fanfiction. It's all your fault. I'd like to say thank you to SpicyWolfsbane who was very kind and supportive about this story and really encouraged me to write more. **  
**I want to put more badass Lucy in this story, thoughts?**

The café in which Caspian had agreed to meet Edmund was a small place, hidden away on a corner. Caspian had visited it once before when he had first moved to Finchley. He had been lost and completely unused to the cold and blustery climate of England and so Ranmandu's Place seemed the perfect place to ask for directions. He had spoken to a very pretty girl named Liliandil who seemed to know everything about Finchley and had even offered to show him around as a tour guide. Caspian thought, in retrospective, that, had he spoken better English at the time, he would likely have taken her up on this offer. He wondered if he'd see her again and was not disappointed when he opened the wooden door and watched her face light up with the bell jingled to announce his presence.  
It was natural to him to return her smile though he did not expect her to shyly push a lock of blonde-white hair behind her ear and smile yet further. He made his way over to a table beside the window, flustered slightly. The menu on his table seemed interesting all of a sudden and he quickly reached for it to hide his blush. She was _very _pretty. Perhaps she thought he looked nice too? Or was that too far-fetched? Maybe she just found her hair annoying and needed to adjust it, after all, smiling was only polite. He would have been offended if she hadn't smiled back. Maybe he should talk to her again, find out if she remembered him from when he asked for directions. Although that was a long time ago and his accent had completely changed. He could still talk to her just to pass the time though, he thought. His only worry was that she might get the wrong idea. Of course it was flattering to have such a beautiful person smile at him, but he was hardly interested in anything other than the occasional chat now and then.  
The bell by the door jingled again and he was broken from his reverie.  
All thoughts of Liliandil and right impressions seemed to fall out of his mind however, when in stepped Edmund, deftly removing his coat and tucking it under his arm. Such a simple movement reminded Caspian of the real reason he was here.

Edmund's pale, freckled smattered cheeks were rosy and soft from the cold outside and his eyes twinkled in the lights of the small, electric chandelier hanging from the ceiling. His gaze found Caspian's and the pair couldn't conceal a relieved smile. Edmund was far nicer looking than Caspian remembered, much better now that he had a proper coat to keep him warm and dry. And his hair looked soft and glossy instead of damp from the rain.  
"Hi." Edmund smiled nervously, taking the seat opposite Caspian. "I, er, I don't know if I actually expected you to come."  
Caspian frowned at this. "Why wouldn't I?" Who did Edmund take him for?  
"Well I suppose I do owe you a favour, that's true." Edmund nodded, chuckling modestly.  
Caspian raised an eyebrow but smiled. "That _is _true but I rather think I was looking forward to the company. Your texts were… How do I put this?"  
"Annoying? Incessant? Invasive?" Edmund interrupted.  
"More like, funny and I guess, companionable?" Caspian corrected.  
"Companionable?" Edmund gave a soft smirk.  
Caspian rubbed his neck shyly, he was still getting the hang of some words. "I just liked talking to you. It was nice to have someone to share things with."  
"Yeah." Edmund nodded reassuringly. "Same here."  
The smiled at each other with some kind of nervous excitement, neither knowing quite how to begin their conversation.  
"So… Are you more of an espresso or cappuccino kind of person Caspian?" Edmund asked and Caspian found that he really liked the way his name sounded coming out of Edmund's mouth.  
"It would have to be Cappuccino for me I think." Caspian nodded. "Espresso is far too bitter here in England, you don't do coffee well at all." He lowered his voice for this, not completely forgetting he was in the middle of an independent café and could possibly offend someone.  
"I'd have to agree with you there." Edmund sighed. "I have a sweet tooth so it's Cappuccino for me as well I think. I once went to Italy on holiday though and the espresso there was like drinking heaven!" He exaggerated.  
"I know!" Caspian grinned in agreement. "I can't even describe it."  
Conversation after that seemed easy. Edmund paid for the coffees despite Caspian's protests and the pair sat down to drink, talk and over share on things that probably shouldn't have been shared so early upon meeting. Caspian wondered whether it was simply because he didn't see his old school friends so often that he enjoyed speaking to Edmund so much but something told him that Edmund was just interesting and a good conversationalist. Everything he said seemed to flow onto something else, each word diplomatically chosen to lead onto a new topic of conversation. But Caspian would be lying if he said he didn't notice him carefully sketch over more personal subjects such as his home life but he'd also be lying if he didn't already know it was a difficult thing for him to talk about. Two could play that game though and so the conversation was easily steered in the direction of more open ideas such as favourite films and tastes in food and music. It was nice to have someone with so much in common with him but just the right amount of differences to present debates sometimes.  
They began to lose track of time, even when empty mugs had been forgotten about instead of replaced. Other customers seemed to come and go but the pair still had so much left to talk about. Their first meeting didn't reveal much about each other and now they were desperate to get to know one another. To Caspian, Edmund was something of a puzzle and he hoped that one day he'd be trusted enough to discover what it was he was hiding, what it was that had made such a young person so mature all of a sudden. He knew Edmund had a younger sister Lucy and he'd seen his older brother Peter and during their conversation he discovered he had an older sister too, named Susan. He wished sometimes that he had a sibling to tell Edmund about, someone he could share things with about how interesting the boy sat in front of him was.  
He hadn't noticed at first, but after a particularly enthralling discussion about chess, they had leaned closer across the table to one another to the point where Caspian was nearly falling out of his chair. Edmund had an even nicer face up close, he noticed, all those freckles like constellations and hardly any blemishes. Caspian had been particularly acne-ridden when he was younger but had taken extreme measures to keep spot-free as he'd gotten older, Edmund it seemed didn't need these exhaustive treatments since his face was so naturally clear. There was his eyes too, brown and deep like his own but ultimately more playful. Although, there was a glint in them of something indefinable and a twitch about his lips which suggested something almost sad. Without noticing, his heart beat had increased and he found his cheeks reddening once more.

It seemed to café was almost empty when they finally decided to leave.  
"We should do this again." Caspian said confidently.  
"Yeah." Edmund nodded.  
"Soon." Caspian added, taking another look at the creases of Edmund's smile and smiling himself when he saw Edmund's eyes glittering too.  
Edmund, partly as a joke, nudged his arm. "Tomorrow then?" He laughed.  
Caspian didn't laugh and shrugged simply. "Yep. Can you do three O'clock?"  
"I don't see why not." Edmund shrugged. "I like to make the most of my weekend."  
"Well. I'll see you tomorrow then." Caspian said, almost proudly.  
"Tomorrow." Edmund nodded.


End file.
